Prior to the conception and development of the present invention, as is generally well known in the prior art, tuna is one of the more important commercially harvested fish for human consumption. Consequently, numerous schemes have been tried to improve the tuna harvest.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,309 teaches an instrumented drift fish aggregating device and method to attract game fish for harvest. The device provides a highly positive that is instrumented with both visual and radio acquisition devices and which floats on the water surface. Suspended from the buoy are a plurality of suspension lines connected to a weight, which combine for stability of the buoy. A multiplicity of fish attraction streamers are connected to the suspension lines to attract the fish. This device provides information to a remote location by radio means as to its location, water temperature and quantity of fish in the vicinity.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,572 which teaches a method and apparatus for separating dolphin from tuna and steering the dolphin to a safe area. According to the method, the primordial fear of dolphin of killer whales is used to separate the dolphin from the tuna by playing the sound of the killer whale under water in the vicinity of a mixed school of dolphin and tuna. When the dolphins have left the area the tuna are then caught in nets. One or more of the plurality of playback units are selectively triggered on and off to steer the dolphin to safety. In one embodiment of the invention, the playback unit is in the form of a killer whale sonic grenade and a pressure sensor senses a predetermined depth and activates the playback unit.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,552 teaches a fish aggregating system for deployment in bodies of water for gathering fish for commercial and sport harvesting.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,005 teaches an underwater acoustic animal guidance system.